Helena begins study of Montana Avenue railroad crossing redesign

Helena has started the study that could eventually remake one of its most stubborn traffic choke points, with the Montana Avenue railroad crossing and adjacent five-point intersection now under review for a possible grade separation.

The city said the project is launching with a $3.2 million federal Railroad Crossing Elimination grant received in 2025. That money will pay for planning, environmental review and preliminary engineering at the existing at-grade BNSF Railway crossing on Montana Avenue, where trains still cut across one of Helena’s busiest north-south routes.

City officials said the study will identify a preferred corridor configuration and move the project through 30% design. Initial site investigations are expected to begin in May 2026 and will include drilling, survey work and traffic data collection, with public outreach planned for the fall. The work area stretches along Montana Avenue from Aspen Street to Livingston Avenue, Lyndale Avenue from Montana Avenue to National Avenue, and Helena Avenue from Cooke Street to National Avenue.

The city is leading the effort with BNSF Railway and the Montana Department of Transportation, while the Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Highway Administration will provide federal oversight. The project is meant to improve mobility, reduce congestion when trains block the crossing, lower the risk of vehicle-rail incidents and remove a barrier for emergency responders trying to move through the corridor.

The crossing has been discussed for decades, according to city transportation systems director David Knoepke, who has said the location is especially complicated because of the nearby Montana Avenue-Lyndale Avenue-Helena Avenue intersection, long known to residents as malfunction junction. Earlier discussion of an overpass or underpass also raised concerns about business access, the need to keep the railroad operating during construction and the overall cost of rebuilding the corridor.

In October 2024, Knoepke said Helena, MDT and BNSF were seeking planning money and that a local match of $800,000 would be split among the three partners. A decade-old estimate for an underpass concept had floated around $50 million, though officials said planning work was needed before anyone could settle on a reliable number.

The new study puts Montana Avenue back at the center of Helena’s long-running transportation puzzle. Even before any construction is chosen, the review could determine how commuters, businesses and nearby neighborhoods move through the corridor for years to come.